This sesson on writers' workshops had two goals: (1) to give feedback to three brave authors who submitted their work: Norm Kerth (article on the history of the retrospectives community), Debra Lavell (article in a series on retrospectives to be published at Intel), and Rachel Davies (chapter on retrospectives from a forthcoming book)and(2) to present the process of writers' workshops to interested attendees with the hope that at future gatherings, other authors might submit their writing on retrospectives for feedback.

Participants: Gabby Benefield, Laurent Bossavit, Rachel Davies, Marcus Evans, Frowin Fajtak, Norm Kerth, Debra Lavell, Charlotte Malther, Andreas Schliep, Willem Van Den Ende, Thomas Walker

Guests: Patrick Kua, Angela Martin, Jean Tabaka, and Peggy Doherty scribing for Norm Kerth

The process is outlined in the following steps:

Writers’ Workshop

Participants read the pattern.

The author stands, reads a selection from the pattern, then becomes a “fly on the wall,” outside the circle. No eye contact is made. The author’s name is never mentioned; refer only to “the author.”

A summary of the pattern is given by someone other than the author or moderator. Others may add to this.

Begin with positive comments. Say what the author should leave alone.

Next, suggestions for improvement. State the opportunity and then the suggested improvement. Begin these comments by saying, “I suggest the author…”

Those who know the pattern should not clarify or speak for the author. The pattern must stand on its own. The moderator constrains discussion to the pattern at hand, usually with, “point noted.” Save meta issues for later.

Trivial comments and typos can be made on a marked-up copy and given to the author after the workshop.

End with a positive closing comment or two.

Invite the author back into the circle.

The author (1) thanks the group for the feedback and (2) asks any questions to clarify comments from the group. Nothing else should be introduced by the author at this time. Save discussion for later. The author should never apologize, explain, or answer any comments.

The author owns all comments. The author is considered an expert and is assumed to act appropriately to suggestions.

The group stands and applauds the author’s contribution.

If another pattern is to be workshopped, everyone takes a different seat and someone tells an unrelated story.

More about the process and its history can be found in a book by Richard Gabriel, Writers' Workshops & the Work of Making Things. The book is now out-of-print, so the pdf can be downloaded from Dick's web site: http://www.dreamsongs.com/Files/WritersWorkshopTypeset.pdf